Professor Hasan Arshad, a consultant in allergy and immunology at Southampton General Hospital, found that allergies such as asthma and eczema were gender-related and not simply hereditary.

"We have known for decades that allergy runs in the family and many thought that maternal effect was greater than paternal effect due to a mothers' closeness to her child, but we have discovered the inheritance is from mother to daughter and father to son," Prof Arshad said.